Copyright: the useful article test

Useful articles are generally not copyrightable (go get a patent!). So how can we tell if something is too useful to be copyrightable? One has to find a separability between the useful part and the artistic part to protect the artistic part.

Physical separation

Conceptual separability

Goldstein test:

separable if artistic part can stand on its own as a work of art as traditionally conceived AND

The point of this blog is to capture my own class notes during my tenure as a law student. Everything on here is my own work and reflects the knowledge and understanding of the law I possessed at the time. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.
Please do not rely on this blog for legal advice. Consult an attorney for proper legal counseling.